Effortless Golf

A confident golfer is one who thinks in a positive manner and is focussed on what he/she wants to have the ball do. Example: “I want the ball to land on that tiny patch of slightly darker grass in the left hand half of the fairway and run out from there.”

A golfer lacking in confidence is going to be thinking about their shortcomings, inadequacies and what they don’t want the ball to do. Example: “I can’t afford to slice the ball here or it is going to be in the river!”

I am just going to throw something in here, out of place on purpose, because I want it to work around in your mind and be accepted while we discuss other things. Confidence comes before playing well. Confidence can and should be made by the player regardless of how they are playing and not waited for as a result of playing well.

There is no doubt that confidence has a big effect on our mind and body performance and given two players, one a little more skilled than the other but suffering a confidence problem, give me the lesser skilled golfer who is playing with confidence.

If you are suffering a confidence problem remember this. At a base level, you only need to be confident for the time that it takes to go through your pre shot routine and swing the club. That takes between 20 and 30 seconds max for the entire routine and the actual swing is only 2-3 seconds of that. So you could even say that you only need to feel confident for 3 seconds on every swing.

What makes you feel un-confident? It’s the fear of failure. The fear that the result of the shot will be bad. Think about it this way. If you knew you could not fail and the result would be fine, wouldn’t you swing with confidence, secure in the knowledge that the result would be good? Of course you would. So fear of failure in the future (because you have not made the shot yet) is what causes anxiety and a lack of confidence in the present.

What would happen if you were not thinking about the future and were not concerned with the result of the shot? Wouldn’t you swing away confidently? If you have no fear of the future then you will commit to the shot and swing with the confidence of a golfer in the zone. The zone is when you are so fully absorbed in the present moment that no past thoughts of poor shots creep into your thinking, and there is no worry over the possibility of a bad shot that has not actually happened.

Worrying about the possibility of a bad outcome of your shot is predicting the future in a negative manner. It’s a recipe for disaster and you deserve to get poor results from that thinking.

To help you stay in the present you must become fully focussed on your target. An exact spot where you want the ball to go and imagine it doing exactly what you want it to. Hold this image in your mind as you swing or fully focus on the back of the ball and see if you can notice the club striking it. The more you practice techniques to get your mind focussed the better you will get at it.

You will know you are doing well when you have no thoughts about the result and if you do have a worry about the direction of the ball, or outcome of the shot while swinging, then it is feedback that you must get mentally stronger.

Only developing the ability to play one shot at a time and remain fully in the present moment is acceptable if you have desires to play your best golf on the most consistent basis humanly possible.

Wishing you FIR’s, GIR’s & Blue Skies.

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If you are interested in training your mental toughness, and how to get your mind to move your body and perform to a higher level like the Pro’s go to www.golfmindshop.com/albatross.html and read more of the “Featured Product”. Every golfers guide to the development and mastery of the inner game if you want to learn to play golf at a different level. Reviews of Golf Training Programs are now available at www.golfmindshop.com and you can Get Your FREE golf ebook Now.

How can you build visualization into your playing routine? Most golfers have a pre shot routine in terms of waggling the club or practice swings, yet fewer have a mental routine to match. This is a great shame, because the mental routine is the most important. Everything in life starts with a thought. You have to think straight if you want the golf ball to go straight, so to speak. You have to plan the golf shot mentally before you can transmit this information to the clubface. Or put another way, how can you impart the right information from the clubface to the golf ball if you are unclear about your shot?

You may think that you are clear about the shot – that you want to hit the golf ball down the fairway. But let us draw a comparison here. Golf balls know nothing, they don’t have minds and they don’t have prior knowledge. If a stranger to your town asked for directions how would you reply? Presumably the answer would be detailed, and you might even use gestures to help make the directions easier to follow. You may even get pen and paper out and draw a map. Unless you took the time to explain the directions fully and precisely that stranger is likely to get lost. The same thing happens to golf balls.

I’m not joking. This is what actually happens. Unless you want your golf balls to take a different route to the one which you desire (and end up getting themselves lost), you need to have clear and precise intent when taking your shot. You need to mentally plan the golf shot, and picturing the desired outcome is all important. A picture is worth a thousand words. Picture the shot, the distance, direction, trajectory, spin; See the ball landing and coming to a stop. Then take the shot. By doing this, the golf ball, like the stranger in your town, stands a far better chance of reaching the desired destination.

It only takes a couple of seconds to visualize your shot and all you need to do is to build this into your pre shot routine. To make it into a habit, you need to do it consistently; Visualize EVERY shot before you take it, not just putts or tee shots, EVERY shot. It won’t take long before this type of visualization is so habitual that it’s impossible to hit a shot without doing it. It will become as automatic as brushing your teeth morning and night.

Mental skills are a part of the game of golf which you can practice easily from your armchair when conditions are inclement outside, and also when its sunny. Don’t forget that every time you vividly imagine a perfect shot your brain doesn’t know the difference between that and a real shot and so every time you visualize great shots you are strengthening the neural pathways in your brain which create an expectation of achieving the perfect outcome. There is no excuse for being “bored”; Even when you’re in the check out queue in Safeway you can be visualizing great golf shots.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis mp3 downloads.

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With a degree in psychology and qualifications in hypnotherapy, NLP and sports psychology, Roseanna Leaton is one of the leading golf psychologists. You can get a free hypnosis download from the website and view the golf hypnosis cds and hypnosis downloads.

Golf swing fundamentals are not hard to learn, but they must be learned if you want to play better golf. Golf swing fundamentals take time, patience, and practice to learn. Golf swing fundamentals are to be found in the three segments of a proper golf swing which are the backswing, the downswing and thirdly the impact and follow through.

Golfers are advised to do resistance training for golf if they want to work towards improving their golf game. Golf swing consistency, having a consistent golf swing is the goal for all golfers. Golf improvement techniques vary from publication to publication with many offering varied advice.

Swing all the way to a full finish and you’ve maximized your power.

Improve your pre shot routine and you will experience a significant swing improvement. Competitive golfers are always in search of the elusive characteristic called confidence. Competitive golfers, whether you’re competing now or working toward tournament play, we can help you improve and succeed at the highest level.

Correct golf posture plays a vital role in golf, putting you in position for balanced, powerful, and consistent ball striking. Correct Ball Position at setup impact is the moment of truth in golf, so placing the ball in the correct position in your stance is critical to arriving at the correct impact position.

Proper warm up exercises and techniques will support you in becoming a better golfer. Proper warm-up exercises will focus on targeted muscles.

Grip refers to how you actually hold and handle the club, and it is important that you have your hands in the proper position, especially before a drive. Grip your club, and act like you are lining up a shot. Posture is where most golfers, especially the older guys start faltering.

Golf swing fundamentals are the most critical part of the golf swing everyone needs to know. Golf swing fundamentals such as grip and posture were taught as kids rotated among chipping, putting and full swing stations.

Take your time and get your golf swing fundamentals right first time, every time and watch your golf game improve out of sight.

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Troy Vayanos is a successful A grade golfer who has played the game for over 20 years. He has learnt all the secrets about every facet of the game of golf and loves sharing this information with people. Want to learn how to lengthen your drives and cut your handicap by 7 – 12 strokes in just 2 weeks?

Go to www.GolfSwingWizard.com.

Love watching Golf Instruction DVD’s to improve your golf game.